Vertigo To Adapt ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ As Graphic Novels

Vertigo announced this week plans to adapt for graphic novels the hugely popular Millennium Trilogy of books written by Stieg Larsson, beginning with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Each book in the series, which also includes The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest, will take the form of a two-volume graphic novel, making six in all. Larsson’s story is an intricate saga of violence and crime that fits the publishing tradition of Vertigo, the mature readers imprint of DC Comics. No creative teams have been announced, but more details may be forthcoming at this weekend’s New York Comic Con.

A brief summary of the Millennium Series is kind of impossible, but the story begins with a disgraced journalist given a chance at redemption and financial reward, an opportunity that’s not as fortunate as it may appear. The journalist’s new employers are also spying on him with the help of the prodigious but deeply disturbed young woman. Together, they investigate a dynasty and the disappearance of one of its heiresses, whose fate may lie with a serial killer.

Originally intended to be a ten-part epic, the Millenium Series exists as three novels completed by Larsson before his untimely death of a heart attack at age 50. The books were published after his death, and have already been adapted as motion pictures in Sweden. An American production of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is forthcoming from director David Fincher.

“Stieg always liked comics and it will be exciting to see the unforgettable characters he created come to life on the comics page,” said Joakim Larsson, the author’s younger brother, in a statement posted to Vertigo’s Graphic Content blog. The complete press release is as follows:

NEW YORK, NY, October 11, 2011 – Best-selling comic book and graphic novel publisher DC Entertainment has secured the worldwide rights to adapt the international phenomenon and best-selling Millennium Trilogy novels into graphic novels. DC Entertainment’s Vertigo imprint will work with the estate of Stieg Larsson and Hedlund Literary Agency to adapt the books. The announcement brings together two publishing powerhouses just in time for the Frankfurt Book Fair and New York Comic-Con.

Each book by Larsson will be presented in two graphic novel volumes that will be available in both print and digital formats. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO volumes will be released in 2012, with volumes for THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE following in 2013, and THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS’ NEST wrapping up the graphic novel series in 2014.

“The intricate characters and stories Larsson created in the Millennium Trilogy are a perfect match for the graphic novel format, where we can bring Lisbeth Salander to life in entirely new, visually compelling ways,” stated Dan DiDio, co-publishers of DC Entertainment. “It’s a distinct honor to work on a story that is already so popular with millions of readers around the world.”

“Stieg always liked comics and it will be exciting to see the unforgettable characters he created come to life on the comics page,” says Joakim Larsson, younger brother of the journalist and novelist whose untimely death in 2004 meant he didn’t see even the first book in the Millennium sequence published.

Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy is an international publishing juggernaut, with more than 60 million books sold worldwide and reaching the top of numerous best seller lists. Sales for all three books exceed 17 million copies in the U.S. alone, including digital sales of 3.5 million copies. Since September 2008, when THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO was published in hardcover, Larsson’s books have been a constant presence on bestseller lists across America.

The various storylines in the Millennium Trilogy revolve around truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander and investigative reporter Mikael Blomkvist.

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